


It All Started with a PHS

by Herperlo_D



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Adorable!Cloud, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Cloud Strife, Cloud Fixes Things, Dork!Tseng, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Tseng and Cloud are Best Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-12 00:59:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7077964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herperlo_D/pseuds/Herperlo_D
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud fixes everything with the power of his cuteness</p>
            </blockquote>





	It All Started with a PHS

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [How To Be A Saviour Without Trying](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6352585) by [Herperlo_D](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herperlo_D/pseuds/Herperlo_D). 



> This is an AU of my fic How to be a Saviour Without Trying. For those who hadn't read it yet, it branches off from chapter 2.
> 
> But it can be read as a stand alone.
> 
> As promised, an off-shot for my brilliant fans. Your comments really fired me up. I wrote this within a day! (major accomplishment for me)
> 
> This is what happened if Tseng kept in contact with Cloud all those years back.

After Tseng left, everything seemed… duller to Cloud. It was as though within those twenty-four hours of being in his presence, Tseng managed to colour everything so much more vibrant that without him there, the world did not seem as bright. It should have been worrying that Cloud had developed such a strong connection to a man he only just met.

 

Did Tseng even remember him?

 

Cloud spent the following days going through the motions- play with The Pack, help out his Ma, go out to hunt. But at the end of the day, Cloud did all that with much less enthusiasm than usual. His Ma had asked him why he was so down but Cloud did not want to tell her, did not want her to worry about his friend-less state, not with her having so many other more important things to worry about.

 

Then everything changed fifteen days, three hours and forty-seven minutes since Tseng left. A package arrived in the mail for him. Him! Cloud was so shock, he could only stare at the package in his hands. But it was unmistakable. His name was written clearly on the top of the brown paper, addressed to the village of Nibelheim on Mt. Nibel.

 

He rushed home as soon as he could and dumped the rest of the letters with his Ma before locking himself in his room. Shaking hands removed the battered cardboard and paper wrappings to reveal a smooth metal casing nestled beneath a layer of Styrofoam balls. Cloud inhaled sharply and ran a hand lightly across the cool surface of the casing. Who would send him anything? Unless…

 

The lid swung open without a sound to reveal a PHS- the latest model, capable of cross-planet calls and text messaging, as well as damage proof, able of withstanding shocks and scratches. It was also really damn expensive. Cloud could buy out half the village with one of these phones and still have money left over- only the elite of the elite could afford it. Cloud gasped softly, gingerly picking up the piece of technology to turn it over in his hands. It was a flip phone, slim and silver, half the size of the house phone and three times as light. Cloud carefully flipped up the cover and silently marvelled at the translucent plastic buttons and clear black screen.

 

Examination done, Cloud placed the phone onto the bed beside him gently and looked back at the metal box in his lap. Inside contained a manual half a centimetre thick and a folded piece of paper with his name written in clean strokes on the top. Cloud eagerly unfolded the paper and slowly read through the letter.

 

_Cloud,_

_How have you been? I do not know if you still remember me. By the time you read this, it should have been a few weeks since I left the cave in the mountains._

_I hope that you have been doing well so far. I do not know if this was too presumptuous of me, but I thought that in that short time I talked to you, I felt-_

Here, there was a blot of ink at the end of the t, as though the pen rested at that point for a split second longer than usual.

 

_-comfortable. If you feel that this is me outstretching my bounds, you may still keep the PHS. It is a gift. If you had felt the same connection as I did, my number is programmed into the contact list. Feel free to message me whenever, though I might not reply immediately._

_Regards,_

_Tseng ~~of the Turks~~_

_P.S All call and messaging charges are covered, so do not worry about that. Treat it as a thank you for saving my life._

_P.P.S If you are selling this phone, please press down on the circular centre button and the red button at the same time until a memory reset notification flashes on the screen._

Cloud finished the letter with his heart thick in his throat and eyes prickling. He swallowed heavily and sniffled, slowly folding up the letter and placing it back into the box.

 

‘I wasn’t forgotten’ He thought in wonderment.

 

Tears welled up in his eyes and he wiped them away furiously. Slowly, a smile rose to his lips and felt a loud cheer build up in his throat, but he quickly smothered it with his pillow.

 

_He remembered me!_

 

From the parts of the letter that he could understand, it seemed that Tseng also wanted them to remain friends. Cloud did a happy wiggle on his bed and screamed into his pillow again.

 

Bouncing, he snatched up the manual from the box and flipped to the first page, more than ready to send Tseng a message. But Cloud drooped a bit when he realised that he could barely understand the first page of instructions. The local school- just a shack with lessons being taught by anyone who could spare a bit of time-had only just started teaching them simple words and phrases. Undeterred, Cloud immediately jumped up from the bed and stored the phone and the box safely under the floorboards of his bed before rushing out of the house to the small local library.

 

It took weeks and countless hours of hitting the books whenever he had the time before Cloud could fully understand the manual. He did not dare ask his Ma to help him because Tseng _wanted to be his friend_ and he was _his_ secret and he did not want her to take Tseng away from him.

 

The first thing he did afterwards was to change Tseng’s name in his contact list to ‘Stupid’. Snickering to himself, Cloud slowly pressed the command to send a text message, referring back to the manual once in a while to make sure that he did everything right. With clumsy fingers, he painstakingly typed out _‘Hi’_ and quickly pressed the green send button before he could back out.

 

The next hour saw him privately freaking out in his room. He kept wondering if within the last few weeks Tseng had forgotten about him- no matter how ridiculous it sounded. It was a shock when his PHS chirped on his desk after a few minutes. (No one will ever find out how he jumped so hard at the sound, he fell off his bed)

 

Cloud picked up the phone, ignoring how his palms were sweating so much it nearly slipped out of his grip. Flipping it open, a notification for one new message flashed at him and he clicked the open button.

 

_‘Hello, Cloud.’_

 

Cloud could have died from the sheer relief he felt and excitedly typed out a response.

 

_________

 

For the next few years, their correspondence grew and even though Tseng’s responses were irregular most of the time, Cloud knew that he was trying and that was all that mattered. They even progressed to occasional letter writing on the side (even though some people might say that it was regressing) because Mama Strife had long since instilled into Cloud that things were done best with your own hands.

 

“It shows honest effort and sincerity”, was what she said to him.

 

They talked about anything they could think of, the weather, gossip they heard, Shinra news and anything that came to mind. Sometimes their messages were about random things they thought about. (By the time Cloud reached Shinra, he knew way more than most about the office secrets and the habits of Shinra’s upper echelons. Tseng became very educated on Nibelheim weather patterns, animal behaviour and the village rumours).

 

Cloud treasured every single letter he received and kept them slotted neatly in the metal case for safekeeping. He also kept the PHS in that same box whenever he goes out so it does not get damaged.

 

His Ma was not happy when she found out about Tseng, but seeing how happy her son was talking to him, she could not begrudge him of his friend. Her son never did things halfway after all, and a friend from the infamous Turks could only mean that her son will be protected when (not if) he heads off to Midgar.

 

Cloud also sends Tseng an occasional care package of wolf and dragon jerky, some bone accessories, wolf pelts and leather skins. In return, Tseng sends back clothes, souvenirs from his travels and money (although Cloud became pissed at the money, but accepted it reluctantly when Tseng insisted).

 

When Cloud turned ten and mentioned that he was starting to use a sword, Tseng sent him a book on swords and a sword cleaning set as well as a few high quality bangles and a few rare materia from his collection. Cloud will deny it forever, but he screamed so loudly that Fenrir whined in pain at the pitch.

 

Then, his Ma died just after he turned fourteen and Cloud had never felt so devastated. Of course, Tseng had helped him in his own way and Cloud managed to work through most of his grief because of him. Tseng ran him through how to manage all the property and money (as limited as it was) he inherited. He soon officially moved into his cave up in the mountains with all of the belongings he needed. Figuring out a way to keep his PHS charged was difficult, but Cloud managed to finagle together a wind energy generator using some solder and parts he cannibalised from an old printer in the old Shinra mansion with generous application of a fire materia. Getting the printer itself was not something Cloud wanted to repeat anytime soon. He nearly cut his fingers off when a Dorky Face jumped him out of nowhere.

 

Tseng had outright refused when Cloud offered to go to Shinra. Cloud protested, but Tseng was firmly set on his decision. He would not risk Cloud’s safety with the war still going on and him swamped with work everyday. In the end, Tseng had to concede when Cloud told him of his decision to try out for SOLDIER. Tseng tried to sway Cloud away from that goal, or at least delay it until the war was over in a two hour long phone call, but had to grudgingly let it go when Cloud mentioned that his Ma had supported his choice.

 

_________

 

On the days leading up to his arrival in Midgar, Tseng repeatedly ran him through the dos and don’ts of being in Midgar. He had also given him instructions on how to find and access his office and his apartment just in case. Cloud had teased him for being such a mama chocobo, but inwardly he felt really touched that Tseng was so concerned for him.

 

Then, he was left alone for registration and the first two weeks as a SOLDIER cadet because Tseng had to go on a month long super-secret mission.

 

By the time Tseng sent him a message to tell him he was back in Midgar, Cloud had already made his second friend- the first being Tseng (The Pack didn’t count. They were family), Lee, and got to know his squad mates better. Completely excited, Cloud rushed to prepare the care package that he did not manage to send off before he left Nibelheim. Seeing that the next day was Sunday, meaning an off day for all cadets, Cloud was set to putting everything together by then.

 

The next day dawned and Cloud knew for a fact that Turks worked on Sundays too. He waved Lee away to hang out with the rest of the squad and turned to the lifts. Luckily, his usual bullies had taken advantage of their off day and took off to do shit under the plate so Cloud remained unmolested all the way to the Turk floor.

 

On hindsight, he probably should have just waited for Tseng at his apartment to give him the care package. But you know what they say- hindsight is twenty-twenty.

 

The moment the lift doors dinged open, Cloud had the entire front office looking at him. Caught like a deer in the headlights, Cloud took a hesitant step out of the lift, arms still awkwardly cradling the large paper-wrapped package for Tseng. Nearly immediately, a red head accosted him, causing Cloud to lean back as much as possible until he was flushed with the lift doors to avoid an awkward face-to-face collision.

 

“Now what’s a SOLDIER cadet like you doing looking for the Turks?” The red head leered at him, looming over him until his ponytail swung over his shoulder to tickle Cloud’s face.

 

Cloud felt the earlier confidence in him waver. “I- well, I- I- umm.” He stammered and clicked his mouth shut, sweat beading his forehead. He never did well in social confrontations, not with him living alone for so long without any human company- except for Tseng- but he does not count. And with this man practically plastering his body to his and interrogating him, Cloud just felt his mind go completely blank.

 

“Oh-ho! What’s this? Is this for us?” The red head- Reno, Cloud recognised him from Tseng’s complaints- grabbed the box and snatched it from his hands. Cloud was too slow to snatch it back and Reno quickly stepped back, bringing it up to his face to examine it. “Is this a _special delivery_?”

 

Cloud’s face burned red at the suggestive tone and shook his head furiously. “N-no! It’s for Tseng!”

 

This time, the whole office really did stop to stare at him and Cloud felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on their ends at the stares. He gulped. The stares were much more dangerous now and Cloud could practically taste the tension in the air.

 

Reno smirked. “For Tseng, is it? So you wouldn’t mind it if I did a little check.” and transferred the box to one arm, retrieving a knife from the folds of his suit.

 

Cloud stared in horror at the sharp edge glinting ominously under the fluorescent lights. He had stored the wolf pelts at the top of the box and if Reno uses that knife to slit it open…

 

The knife descended and Cloud watched, mouth agaped, as it got nearer to the box in slow motion. It was Tseng’s gift! And Cloud could not stand the thought of anyone ruining it before Tseng could even see what he had brought him.

 

Reno was not given a chance to react before he found himself face down on the floor, hands empty except for his knife, shin and nose throbbing in pain.

 

Cloud hugged the box protectively to his chest, staring warily at the number of guns and weapons being pointed at him. ‘Maybe… that hadn’t been a good idea.’ Inside, he silently bemoaned his luck. ‘All I wanted to do was to meet Tseng again. Was that too much to ask?’

 

Apparently yes.

 

One of the two doors at the end of the office cracked open and Cloud nearly collapsed to his knees when Tseng walked out of the room.

 

_There is a god out there._

 

“What is going on?” Tseng demanded, striding into the main office. He scanned the room and did a double take when his gaze landed on the SOLDIER cadet at the centre of the entire mess.

 

“Sir, he-“ Two Guns started, only to be silenced when Tseng brushed past him.

 

“Cloud?!”

 

The whole office watched in shock as their normally stoic Second in Command rushed forward to embrace the unknown SOLDIER cadet who handed Reno his ass in less than a second.

 

Cloud dropped the box and hugged Tseng back just as fiercely, pressing his face into his shoulder to hide from the staring crowd, taking comfort in Tseng’s presence.

 

Everything will be all right now.

 

Tseng pulled back from the hug, and held Cloud at arms length.

 

“Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what are you doing here? I thought that you’d rather wait for me at my apartment.”

 

Cloud scratched a cheek sheepishly, blushing again in embarrassment. “I- ah- forgot to mail the package to you before I left so I figured that I should deliver it to you myself… and I _may_ have gotten a bit too excited and forgot.”

 

Tseng smiled at Cloud fondly, raising a gasp from the still gathered audience, and ushered him and his box of goodies to his office where they could get a bit more privacy.

 

“Get back to work.” He ordered over his shoulder, glaring at anyone who dared to comment. The Turks scrambled to obey his orders, one lugging a groaning Reno from the floor.

 

“Oh, and Reno? Report to my office first thing tomorrow morning. You will be on trainee duty for the next two week. Don’t be late.” And the door slammed shut behind him.

 

The Turks casted the Reno sympathetic looks and left him to suffer at his desk. No one likes trainee duty. He was on his own.

 

________

 

It was hours before either Tseng or Cloud emerged from Tseng’s office and within that time, the Turks in the front office had conducted a full background search on Cloud and came up with at least a hundred different possibilities of who Cloud might be to Tseng.

 

The top three were: Cloud was Tseng’s boy toy and the box contained all sorts of sex toys. Cloud was his half brother and the box had the chopped up remains of their father. And lastly, Cloud was a product of an experiment using Tseng’s sperm so now Tseng is taking responsibility of him.

 

The rest of the options just became more dubious and ludicrous down the list.

 

When the pair finally did leave the office, it was to a room filled with Turks giving them their undivided attention. Tseng introduced Cloud to them as his _best friend_ and there was a collective groan in the crowd and quite a few discreet money exchanges. Tseng mentally rolled his eyes and ignored his subordinate’s horrible habits. Cloud just stared wide-eyed at the major change in the people in front of him. Just not too long ago they were so close to killing him and now they were acting so open. When prodded to say something, Cloud could only duck his head, fingers fiddling with the hem of his shirt and blush madly, mumbling out a shy “Hi.”

 

Half the office melted on the spot at the sheer cuteness of the cadet and replied enthusiastically, causing Cloud’s blush to darken until the air around his face was steaming. If he hunched anymore, his face would be completely covered by the suit coat Tseng had draped over his shoulders. There were a few “Awws” from the crowd.

 

Tseng gave a private smirk. Half down, half more to go.

 

________

 

Cloud became a common visitor after that, visiting Tseng twice or thrice a week at his office, often stopping by a few cubicles to chat with different Turks every time. It was, of course, inevitable that they found out where Tseng had gotten- or rather _who_ had been supplying Tseng with a near constant supply of Nibel wolf and dragon related goods. Easy to say, the other half of the office was sold.

 

After Cloud left that day, Tseng had turned to the front office and announced that Cloud was to remain within the office and should he find out that _anyone_ had blabbed about him, even to Rufus or Veld, there would be _consequences_.

 

The office remained silent for a time after Tseng had left.

 

Everyone kept their promise. After all, family sometimes hid stuff from each other for their own safety. This was no different.

 

Strangely for Cloud, being introduced to the Turks as Tseng’s best friend seemed to have gained him a very large group of silent caretakers. Meaning that he would occasionally come back from a day out training to a present on his bed, be it a new knife or gun or more ammunition, or a slip of paper containing a warning or secret information or even tips (Cloud burned the notes immediately after reading). It was flattering and creepy at the same time, but after a while Cloud just stopped caring and instead simply relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of being cared for.

 

________

 

Definitely, there had been a few hiccups along the way, seeing that Cloud was aiming to be a SOLDIER, the Turks’ rival.

 

The first came in the form of a bubbly SOLDIER Second named Zack Fair, which led him to being introduced to his mentor, Angeal Hewley, then to Genesis Rhapsodos and General Sephiroth by association. That week, tensions were high in the office until Cloud, horribly torn, could not take it anymore and demanded for them to tell him what he did wrong so that he could fix it. Hearts broke in the office when Cloud looked at them with tears in his eye, heart hurting so bad he could barely finish his sentence without sniffling. Tseng was a dark presence behind him, staring the office down, just _daring_ them to make Cloud actually start crying. The misunderstandings were quickly resolved afterwards and the Turks were appeased after multiple assurances that Cloud still liked them best.

 

Cloud rolled his eyed at them affectionately. They reminded him of The Pack back home. So easily made jealous by the smallest of things.

 

The second came in the form of a mad scientist by the name of Hojo. Cloud piqued his interest when his lab results came back and it was revealed that he had higher mako compatibility than even Sephiroth. The Turks had stumbled upon Hojo’s plans for Cloud during one of their customary sweeps of the Shinra database and to say that they were angry was putting it mildly.

 

They were fucking apoplectic.

 

But Turks were first and foremost loyal to the company and Hojo was important for President Shinra to achieve his goal of the Promise Land. So they could not introduce an ‘accident’ (as much as they wanted to).

 

Then Legend had gone off on a double mission to the Golden Saucer and Nibelheim and stumbled upon a cave containing a crystallised lady who kept mumbling the name of an assumed dead legendary Turk. Digging for more information- within the mission parameters obviously-, Legend found a casket containing said legendary Turk in the basement of the Old Shinra Mansion and was summarily informed that Jenova was not, in fact, a Cetra, but a Calamity- the furthest thing from the key to the Promise Land as possible.

 

Coming back, the Turks happily disposed of Hojo discretely in the ensuing chaos of Rufus Shinra killing off President Shinra to take ownership of the company. Avalanche soon found themselves locked up or killed in the power struggle, leaving the remaining stragglers powerless to build up another support base.

 

Then a real Cetra was ‘mysteriously’ found hidden away in a church in Sector Five just in time to stop Generals Rhapsodos and Hewley from deserting the army due to their degradation. Liberal applications of prayers to the lifestream saw their degradation cured and all SOLDIER cells purified.

 

Deepground was shut down before it even had the chance to start.

 

Jenova was found in the abandoned Nibelheim mako reactor. The Calamity was purified and burned to ashes with no chance of revival.

 

During these massive changes to the company, Cosmo Canyon drew the attention of the Turks and they paid them a visit, only to find out that using mako as a form of energy was not a good option for the continued health of the planet. The possibility of an apocalypse quickly shut down any protest people had about Shinra slowly switching from mako energy to other sources of energy.

 

Rather suffer from energy shortages once in a while than to die from a drained planet was the general consensus.

 

With Shinra no longer looking to build as many mako reactors as possible, the reason for them to start the Wutai War became invalid and both sides signed an armistice.

 

________

 

All was not perfect, but for Cloud Strife, it was as perfect as it could get. He gained a huge family, had awesome friends and managed to achieve his dream of being a SOLDIER. He occasionally went back to Nibelheim to spend time with The Pack. It was more than anything he ever dreamt of and Cloud thanked Gaia everyday for his good fortune.

 

And it all started with a PHS and two people who refused to let go of each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, there are major plot holes in this fic, but it isn't something that should be taken seriously (it's actually quite cracky) so I'm not too bothered by them.
> 
> All of your kudos and comment really made my heart swell. I was super pumped.
> 
> I hope that you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Come join me on my [tumblr](http://herperlo-d.tumblr.com) account!


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